On June 5, 2020, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act was signed into law, relaxing the original requirements for how businesses could use PPP loans and continue to qualify for forgiveness. Within days of the bill passing, Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of HR, payroll, benefits, and insurance solutions, introduced a PPP Loan Forgiveness Estimator and Forgiveness Report in its cloud-based HR suite, Paychex Flex, to simplify the application process for customers and provide them the accurate information needed to satisfy the new forgiveness requirements.
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In accordance with the PPP Flexibility Act, these new Paychex solutions account for the extension of the timeframe to use funds from eight weeks to up to 24 weeks and an increased allowance of up to 40 percent of the loan to be spent on non-payroll costs such as mortgage interest, rent, and utilities.
“Receiving PPP funding has been essential to reopening for many business owners, but securing loan forgiveness will be critical for both their short-term cashflow and long-term survival,” said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. “We understand that maximizing forgiveness is a critical need for our customers, and we are uniquely positioned to provide them with the information needed to apply for loan forgiveness. Our dedicated compliance staff has been working with the highest levels of government to help inform the development of the regulations, interpret what the rules mean for our customers, and accurately apply them when building the calculations into Paychex Flex.”
According to a Paychex survey, conducted May 15-17, 2020, among a randomly selected group of business owners with two to 500 employees, many businesses lack clarity when it comes to their loan forgiveness. While 68 percent of businesses are very or extremely confident they meet the requirements for PPP forgiveness, 37 percent are unclear how to apply for forgiveness. Another 34 percent are uncertain what their bank or other funding provider will require from them for the forgiveness request.
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